My Boots and Camel!

When I'm somewhere I can't actually study/work/focus solely on drawing, I love running through the Drawabox exercises: https://drawabox.com/. I think it's a big help. Gives you a lot of warm-up exercises and it really focuses on getting down form, so constructional drawing becomes easier.

For your first question. 1) I live in a place with a lot of free community center art classes. If you have access or can commute to a town close by, go to these. 2) I've also met several fellow artists from my day job. Finding an awesome day job, with supportive coworkers and management, that celebrate your skills and passions is huge. Coworkers turn into friends turn into art buddies. Plus you're developing a plan B. 3) Try to find a local art center/open studio. They may have free events like #1, or have space for you to go work on your art amongst other artists. Some are free, and offer great quality. Others are paid, but are still cheaper and less of a financial commitment than art school. A local example to me: https://www.visarts.org/studio-access/studios/drawing-painting/

OoooF... lol